


Something Else Entirely

by BatuuPrincess



Series: May the Fourth [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Almost Kiss, F/M, Pre-Relationship, The Force Ships It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-05-05
Packaged: 2020-02-26 00:40:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18712963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BatuuPrincess/pseuds/BatuuPrincess
Summary: Poe and Rey share a moment at the Force tree with new friends.For the May the Fourth prompt: “That’s not how the Force works.”





	Something Else Entirely

Poe let out another string of curses, his arms buried to the elbow in the old X-wing. He’d been like this for hours, arms aching and tired, trying (and failing) to figure out what was making the old bird short circuit every time he tried to start her up. Why did he have to brag to Rose that he was perfectly capable of repairing his own X-wing? She’d have had him in the air days ago.

Though maybe it was a good thing. They had a lot of work to do to get the new (read: very, very used) fleet up and running and Rose was their best mechanic. Or their only mechanic. He supposed it depended on how you looked at it. Either way, she had her work cut out for her.

They’d been back on Yavin barely a month, the Resistance hunkering down on the old rebel stronghold to lick their wounds and regroup. Kes and the rest of the villagers had greeted them with open arms, offering them shelter and food and any aid they could supply. The Dameron compound had become a sort of center of operations - comms and radar out in the barn, salvaged ships lined up next to the fields, command meetings at the kitchen table. And Poe next to the clearing, elbows deep in an X-wing.

His chosen spot was a little removed from the rest of the Resistance, and if anyone asked he simply told them he liked to work in peace. The real reason was humming softly just on the other side of the trees.

Rey spent most of her time in front of the Force tree, either meditating or deciphering ancient texts or speaking with old Jedi Masters no one else could see, always happy to just have a place in all this.

The look in her eyes when he brought her to the tree for the first time - wonder and awe and something deeper, an ancient longing he had no words for - had left him speechless. And when she touched the rough bark she saw Luke, the Jedi Master imparting knowledge of her past and future.

The hug had been a complete surprise, Rey throwing herself into his arms with a teary “thank you” he accepted with grace. They had both pulled back a few moments later, neither quite sure what to do with the gesture. As he let her go, Poe couldn’t help but notice a lovely pink flush making its way across Rey’s cheeks.

He shook the memory from his head, turning his attention back on the wiring. This component had zapped him at least twice in the past hour and he didn’t want to make it three times.

He edged the spanner into the open panel, narrowly avoiding the blue wire that got him last time, finally making contact with the ignition box. If he could just tighten the nut…

A quarter turn of the spanner sent a zap of energy up his arm, Poe dropping the tool with a muttered “fuck.”

As he shook out his hand, there was a scream from the other side of the trees, Poe sitting up fast enough to bang his head on the hull with a thunk. Ignoring the pain, he took off toward the Force tree. Could it be a Force vision? Had Ren appeared again to torment her? Was someone attacking her?

With a crash, he broke through the trees, blood running cold when he heard a giggle.

Wait, a giggle?

Rey sat cross-legged under the soft glow of the Force tree, stock still, as a small family of woolamanders took an interest in her. A large female played in her hair, dismantling the standard three buns with deft fingers, while a baby investigated her arm wraps.

She was looking right at him, her face barely able to contain her smile. “I was just sitting here meditating, and they showed up out of nowhere.”

Now, Poe had a certain… distaste for monkeys, but growing up on Yavin 4 had left him with a soft spot for their resident primates, a gentle group that generally just liked to howl and eat. They both watched in silence as the natives continued to inspect her, testing and teasing at various pieces of clothing, opening her small satchel, a few more joining the original group, drawn by Rey’s light.

“It’s you,” he said, his face heating despite his best efforts, “and the Force. It calls to them.”

Rey laughed, her own cheeks going pink as she shook her head at him. “That’s not how the Force works.”

She may have been the expert, but Poe begged to differ. Wasn’t it that same light in the Force that drew Poe in time and time again? From the first time he shook her hand on the Falcon to the nights when he sidled up to her after dinner for conversation to the fact that he came running the second he heard her call, he was always finding some excuse to be inside her orbit.

If that wasn’t the Force, he didn’t know what was.

He’d been there that first night when Kes explained where the throaty calls were coming from, regaling Rey with stories about his run-ins with the local woolamanders. Poe had heard them all before, but Rey had been fascinated, listening to Kes with wide-eyed wonder, peppering him with question after question about the native species. Now, he could see the unadulterated joy on her face at finally meeting them.

Poe got an idea. Digging in to his pocket, he pulled out a couple of ration bars - the good, chocolate kind - tearing in to the packaging. He broke off a piece, inching closer so as not to scare away Rey’s new friends. Despite his careful movement, the woolamanders scattered, but not for long.

They scented the chocolate, sending a bold member of their group to investigate. He snatched the chunk from Poe’s hand, fast as lightning, before dashing back to his friends at the edge of the jungle. Rey’s eyes went wide as they shared the treat, chattering away.

Poe handed the bar over to Rey. “Fastest way to make friends for life.”

Copying what Poe did, she broke off a piece, holding it out flat on her palm. One by one they inched out of the jungle, taking the treats as Rey offered them before settling down around her.

Poe sat opposite her, their knees almost touching in the damp grass.

“They’re so friendly,” she giggled as the smallest crawled into her lap, searching non-existent pockets for more treats.  “Just like Kes said!”

“Well, they definitely like you.” He reached into his pocket for the second bar, catching the attention of their guests. “And the food doesn’t hurt. Think fast.”

Rey caught the bar without looking up. Absently, he wondered if it was a Jedi thing or a growing up alone on Jakku thing that left her reflexes scary fast.

The second bar went more quickly than the first, no hesitation now that the woolamanders knew what they were getting. Poe was pretty sure the First Order gave less thorough pat-downs than the ones they received from their new friends, Rey giggling as nimble fingers turned out his pockets and searched her hair.

Speaking of her hair, a leaf dangled from the strands the woolamanders had pulled loose from her buns, waving ever so slightly in the wind. Their eyes locked, that small, private smile still playing across her face.

“You have a…” Without thinking, he reached across the gap, plucking the leaf and watching it fall to the ground. “... leaf.”

Tucking the errant strand behind her ear, his fingers lingered near her face, cupping her cheek. Then he was leaning toward her and she was leaning toward him and he could feel the heat from her soft exhalation on his lips-

“Poe? Rey? You guys out there?”

The woolamanders scattered at the sound of Kes’s voice, Rey and Poe both jerking back before he came crashing into the clearing.

“There you two are! Come on, dinner’s ready.” Kes paused for a second, taking in the scene around him. “What’s going on here?”

Heat spread across Poe’s cheeks. He felt 15 again, his dad walking in on him and any number of his “friends” on the couch or behind the barn or in the fields. Kes had a real knack for barging in when things were about to get good.

Rey was on her feet in an instant, never missing a beat. “The woolamanders were here, just like you said. Poe had a ration bar and…” She continued talking as they walked back toward the house, Kes throwing an arm over her shoulders.

Poe got to his feet slowly, brushing off his pants.

Before they were out of sight, Kes turned and raised his eyebrows at Poe, a little acknowledgement that he wasn’t fooling anyone, least of all his dad.

With a sigh, he leaned against the Force tree, his hand reaching for the ring around his neck. It was warm to the touch, the way it was a lot these days. Well, at least anytime he was near Rey.

Maybe she was right. Maybe it wasn’t the Force that drew him to her, after all. Maybe it was something else entirely.

Footsteps approached.

“Aren’t you coming? It’s dinnertime.” Rey reached out a hand.

He tucked the ring back under his shirt, accepting her hand and letting her pull him off the tree. A calm washed over him, the ring burning against the skin on his chest.

Yes, something else entirely.

Smiling, he didn’t drop her hand as they started toward the house. “I know.”

**Author's Note:**

> Happy May 4th and thanks for reading!


End file.
